Watch



June 20, .1950 w. A. BUCHLER 2,512,087

WATCH Filed March 21, 1946 N11213:? chZp Patented June 20, 1950 UNITEDsures PATENT OFFICE Application March 21, 1946, Serial No. 655,909 InSwitzerland March 19, 1945 Section 1, Public Law 690, A g st's, 1946Patent expires Mai-eh 1-9, 1965 I 4 Claims.

This invention relates to watches with a twopart winding stem.

An object of the invention is to provide a watch of this kind which ischaracterized in that the winding stem is axially displaced forexecuting three operations, on displacement for two of theseop'erations'the mutual tpo siti'on of'the two parts of the winding stemremaining unchanged, while for the third operation the relative axialposition of these parts is changed.

My invention may for instance be used in watches with centre secondshand, the first two operations being then used for winding and hoursetting and the third operation, for bringing back the seconds handt'o-its zero position or in chronographs for setting in motion andstopping the seconds hand. or course any operation quite apart from theabove mentioned one can be done in this third operating position.

Other objects and features will be apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, illustrating two embodiments of the invention, referencebeingha'd to the accompanying drawings, wherein;

Fig. -1 represents an embodiment in which the third operating positionserves to act upon the resetting or fiyback member for resetting acentre seconds hand.

Fig. 2 is a further embodiment of the winding stem.

In Fig. 1 the crown is designated by I which with the tube-shaped part 2forms the upper cylindrical extension 3 of the winding stem. The otherpart 4 ends in a small piston 5 with a guideslot ii. A spring 1 isinserted between this piston 5 and the bottom of the cylinder 3. A pin 8attached to the cylinder 3 slides axially with respect to the piston 5and is borne in the guideslot 6, so that the two parts of the windingstem are firmly coupled together so that transmission of rotary movementfrom one part to the other is ensured.

A resetting member, partially shown at 9, is connected to the windingstem by non-represented elements ending at the lever II which bears apin l8, said pin being in the operating field of the rim 12 of theextension 3. The resetting member cooperates with the heart-shaped camHi.

The drawing shows the winding stem in its extreme pulled out or houradjusting position. The pin 8 lies at the upper end of the guide-slot 6which limits the relative movement of the two parts 3 and 4. The windingstem can be brought into a second operating position by pressing theassembly constituted of the crown l and its cylindrical extension 3partly downwards. On this movement, the elastic force of the spring 1 isgreater than the resistance which is opposed by the mechanism foradjusting the hour. For this reason, the mutual position of the parts 3and 4 remains unchanged and the Whole stem is thus pushed downwards inthat the uncompressed spring'transmits the movement of part 3 and part4. The third position is obtained by pressing the upper part of thewinding stem completely inwards, so that the part 4 strikes against thepart I 9 forming a stop means and the spring I will be squeezedtogether, whereby the upper part 3 of the stem will be displaced inwardswith respect to the lower .part 4 which remains at rest. Thisdisplacement is limited by the length of the guide-slot 6 in which thepin 8 slides. The lever H to be driven during the last mentioneddisplacement is operated by the rim |2 of the cylindrical extension 3which will come up against the pin I8 of the lever II and can, asalready mentioned, control any operation within the watch. In theparticular case considered, those components operate the resettingmember 9 which reconducts theseconds hand to its zero position by theintermediary oi the heart-shaped cam is. In the case of chronographs,this third displacement or supplementary operation may be used foralternatelyreleasing and locking the seconds hand.

Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of the winding stem, which differs fromthe first as to the way of conveying the displacement and the rotarymovement to the lower half of the stem in the extreme pulled outposition. Whereas in the first embodiment the rotary movement istransmitted by means of a device consisting of a pin 8 sliding axiallywithin a guide-slot 6, in the second embodiment the same operation isdone by means of a square shaped head piston I3 moving within a tubularextension I4. In the pulled out position of the first embodiment thelower half of the winding stem was pulled out into the position ofadjusting the hour on account of the pin 8 coming up against the upperend of the slot 5 thus conveying its movement to the lower part 4. Thecorresponding element in the second embodiment in question is formed bythe bent-in rim I5 which enters between the head piston i3 and ashoulder l6 beneath the square head piston is. During the relativedisplacement between the two parts of the winding stem, the bent-in rimis slides over the thinner cylindrical part 5?, and comes up against apin like [8 fixed to a lever like H, so that said rim operates amechanism 3 which can also, for instance, comprise a resetting member 9.

In this way, it is possible without additional operating outercomponents in watches in particular with the seconds hand in the middleand also in chronographsto make one more operation possible than hasbeen obtainedwith winding stem devices up to the present day.

What I claim is:

1. In a time piece, a case portion, a stop meansfj a winding stemmounted rotatably and axiallyadjustably on said case portion, saidwinding stem comprising an individual outer portion and an individualinner portion movable into engagement with said stop means and coupledwith said outer portion for rotary motion and for mutual axialdisplacement of said portions, a resilient means inserted between saidportions to space them axially of each other and to maintain the mutualaxial position of said portions on an axial movement of said windingstem unchanged until said inner portion is stopped by said stop means,and a controlmeans engageable with said outer portion on a relativeaxial movement of the latter with regard to said inner portion againstthe constraint of said resilient means.

2; In a time piece, a case portion, astop means, a winding stem mountedrotatably and axially adjustably on said case portion, said winding stemcomprising an individual outer portion and an individual inner portionmovable into engagement with said stop means and coupled with said outerportion for rotary motion and for mutual axial displacement of saidportions, a spring in serted between said portions to space them axiallyof each other and to maintain the mutual axial position of said portionsunchanged on an axial movement of said Winding stem from an houradjusting position to a winding position until said inner portion isstopped by said stop means, and a seconds hand-control means engageablewith said outer portion on a relative axial'movement of the latter withregard to said inner portion against the constraint of said spring.

3. In a time piece, a case portion, a stop means, a winding stem mountedrotatably and axially adjustably on said case portion, said winding stemcomprising an individual outer portion and an individual inner portionmovable into engagement with said stop means and coupled with said 4outer portion for rotary motion and for mutual axial displacement ofsaid portions, a spring inserted between said portions to space themaxially of each other and to maintain the mutual axial position of saidportions unchanged on an axial movement of said winding stem from anhour adjusting position toa winding position until said inner portion isstopped by said stop means, and

a center-seconds hand-resetting member engageable with said outerportion on a relative axial movement of the latter with regard to saidinner portion against the constraint of said spring;

4. In a time piece, a case portion, a stop means, a winding stem mountedrotatably and axially adjustably on said case portion, said winding stemcomprising a cylindrical hollow portion and a piston-like portionfitting slidably in said cylindrical hollow portion, a slot on one ofsaid portions and a pin on the other portion, engaging said slot tocouple said portions for rotary motion and for a limited mutual axialdisplacement, a springinserted in saidcylinder and supported on thelatter and on said piston-like portion to space said portions axially ofeach other and to maintain the mutual axial position of said portionsunchanged on an axial movement of said winding stem from an houradjusting position to a winding position until said piston-like portionis stopped by saidstop means, and a control means engageable with saidcylindrical hollow portion on a relative axial movement of the latterwith regard to said piston-like portion against the constraint of saidspring.

W. A. BUCHLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Great Britain Mar. 20, 1940

